Banks should cut remittance fees by 50 percent—lawmaker

Manila—A member of Congress has called for cuts in the “excessive” transfer fees imposed by foreign and local banks as well as global payment processing firms on the personal cash remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“We reckon that Filipino workers abroad will spend US$3.1 billion in bank charges when they send home US$29.3 billion this year,” ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III said in a statement.

“A migrant Filipino worker pays an average of US$10.57 in bank charges for every US$100 wired home,” Bertiz said.

Citing a World Bank (WB) study titled “Remittance Prices Worldwide,” Bertiz said the global average cost of a personal cash transfer through bank channels was 10.57 percent in the first quarter of 2018.

“Slashing remittance fees by half would easily mean US$1.5 billion in cost-savings and extra cash in the pockets of migrant Filipino workers and their families here,” Bertiz said.